Where do you find produce pricing?
On the web, of course. But what is the source?
Is pricing supplied by suppliers, the USDA, internal intelligence or a private company? All of the above?
When I first came to The Packer, then-markets editor Bill Doran published weekly Tabb Potato and Onion market reports. The Packer itself began ProNet in 1984, a market information service housed in a database.
I recently asked the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group:
The results:
- Internal intelligence: 33%
- Government market reports: 38%
- Private market reports: 26%
- Other (explain): 2%
I would welcome comments on this post about sources of market information beyond the USDA.
For those of you in Rio Linda (Rush Limbaugh reference), I will point out the considerable USDA data industry members have free access to.
Check out the USDA’s Fruit and Vegetable Portal.
Types of reports include:
- Fruit
- Onions and potatoes
- Vegetables
- Herbs
- Nuts
- Ornamentals
- Honey
- Terminal market
- International market
- Shipping point
- Movement
- Retail
- Daily movement
- Truck rate
- Terminal market (including organic)
- Shipping point (including organic)
- Movement (including organic)
- Retail (including prganic)
- Organic report
- Custom average pricing
The USDA also offers international prices for fresh fruits and vegetables, courtesy of government agencies and perhaps quasi-government/private firms in Europe, Canada and Mexico.
Check out these global market reports compiled by the USDA.
- Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Guadalajara, Mexico
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Montreal, Canada
- New Covent Garden, U.K.
- New Spitafields, U.K.
- Paris (Rungis), France
- Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- Poznan, Poland
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Toronto, Canada
- Varna, Bulgaria
- Warsaw, Poland
The agency in 2017 said this about its reports:
Have you ever wondered how American farmers and businesses track the price of their commodities? Today, farmers, ranchers, and the entire agricultural supply chain turn to USDA Market News – administered by my agency, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) – for timely, reliable, unbiased data that serves as the information lifeline for America’s agricultural economy. But 100 years ago, everyone was in the dark about how much things cost. That’s why, in 1915, the first USDA Market News report was sent by telegraph, letting buyers and sellers across the country know the price of strawberries in Hammond, Louisiana. A century later, the impact of USDA Market News reports is clear. Each year, AMS issues more than 250,000 reports that get more than 53 million views. AMS gathers and releases the data free of charge within hours of collection, allowing all producers and marketers to quickly see which commodities are in demand and where. Our Market News reporters capture data for hundreds of products – from cotton to grass-fed beef to grain to lettuce – including data on organic products, retail store pricing, and locally and regionally marketed products. USDA Market News reaches millions of Americans every day – from the small farmer in Arkansas to the trading floors in Chicago – to ensure that all stakeholders have the information they need when they need it. So what good is all this information? It makes our nation’s commodity market one of the most transparent in the world and provides critical market intelligence. That means: Farmers and ranchers know they’re getting a fair price; Wholesalers make better decisions about what and how much to buy; And commodity traders buy and sell based on trends in the data. From the telegraph to a dynamic online database, Market News has leveraged available technology to bring on-demand market information to our stakeholders. USDA recently released an innovative, enhanced version of the Market News Portal with simplified navigation, giving users easier access to the wealth of timely and reliable data. As we look to the future, we will continue to improve the data and reports that are the eyes and ears of the agriculture sector. From mobile apps and open data to on-demand custom analysis, we are excited to see what the next 100 years has in store. Whatever changes come, USDA Market News will remain the trusted source for timely, reliable, unbiased information.
The USDA has certainly come a long way since market news reports were sent by telegraph. There is still work to be done, as the market news reports certainly don’t offer complete coverage of every shipping point and terminal market.
One comment I received on the poll said this:
Sources abound. Opinions are like elbows. Most have one or two.Finding an authority on the subject? Why is it impossible to ship asparagus from Columbia to the US yet the borders are sufficiently porous for illicit trade.I hope that one day we will have more pineapple and raspberries and less cocaine
Amen to that. Ironically and unbelievably, there is a type of market news service for drugs. The United Nations provides a global market report on retail and wholesale cocaine and heroin prices at this website.
